NA TURE 



[July i, 1922 



and Tanganyika Territory. Then follow two chapters 

 containing a most useful summary of the geology of 

 the Union of South Africa. Central and South-West 

 Africa and British West Africa are dealt with in the 

 two succeeding chapters, the latter including some 

 pages devoted to the British Cameroons and Togoland. 

 Canada and Newfoundland are dealt with in two 

 chapters occupying sixty pages, and the Indian Empire 

 in two of sixty-six pages. These are admirable sum- 

 maries, which are especially welcome in view of the 

 importance and interest of the work which has been 

 done in these lands and of the great volume of litera- 

 ture that has been epitomised. The Malay States, 

 British Borneo, the Indian Ocean islands, and Hong 

 Kong are treated in a chapter on the East Indies. 

 Then come two chapters on the geology of Australia. 

 one on New Zealand, and one on Oceania, some account 

 being included in the last of territory acquired since 

 the war. The last chapter, under the title of the 

 Mandatory Regions, deals with Mesopotamia and 

 Palestine. 



In most cases the descriptions of the several regions 

 are accompanied by sections and folding geological 

 maps in black and white. These are printed on good 

 paper, and students would derive considerable benefit 

 in tinting them with washes of colour. In connection 

 with each area a useful bibliography is also given, 

 which, by referring readers to further sources of in- 

 formation, adds greatly to the value of the book. 



Both author and publisher are to be congratulated 

 upon having produced an important and most useful 

 addition to British geological text-books. 



(2) Mr. Penzer's book is of a more specialised kind. 

 It is the second of a series devoted to the raw materials 

 of industry, the first of which dealt with cotton and 

 wool throughout the world. This second volume 

 restricts itself to tin within the Empire, which, con- 

 stituting two-thirds of the world's supply, provides 

 ample material for a single volume. It is proposed 

 to issue later another volume describing the extra- 

 British sources of the metal. 



The introduction deals with the history of tin produc- 

 tion and with the tin-bearing minerals. Then there are 

 four chapters describing the various fields, arranged 

 according to continents ; this part of the book contains 

 much detailed information, and is illustrated by a 

 number of specially drawn distribution maps. There 

 is also a chapter on the industrial applications of tin, 

 and one giving statistics as to output, prices, and 

 conditions of sale. The volume closes with an elaborate 

 classified bibliography. 



A perusal of this book has left the impression that 

 its writer has been assembling information upon a 

 subject which is outside the limits of his own practical 

 NO. 2748, VOL. I IO] 



experience. This impression detracts a little from the 

 authority of the work, but it must not be allowed to 

 obscure the fact of the author's remarkable industry 

 or of the extraordinary amount of information which 

 he has gathered together into the 350 pages of his 

 book. By indefatigable labour he has made a valuable 

 compilation which many interested in the mineral 

 industries will be glad to possess and keep by them 

 for purposes of reference. C. G. C. 



Our Bookshelf. 



The Vitamins. By Prof. H. ('. Sherman and S. L. 

 Smith. (American Chemical Societv : Monograph 

 Series.) Pp. iii + 273. (New York : Chemical Cata- 

 log Co., Inc., 1922.) 4 dollars. 

 A very welcome addition to the literature of vitamins 

 has been provided by Prof. Sherman and Mr. S. L. 

 Smith in the volume under notice. The plan of the 

 book is very simple ; an historical introduction is 

 followed by three chapters devoted to the three 

 generally recognised vitamins and a final chapter is 

 added on the relation of these important principles 

 to the problem of food supply. A bibliography is 

 also given, which comprises about a thousand entries 

 and includes the literature so far as the end of 192 1. 



The treatment of the subject is throughout clear 

 and critical, and the authors err if at all on the side 

 of caution. Thus they do not regard the identity of 

 the water-soluble and antineuritic vitamins as proved, 

 but consider that " the preponderance of evidence 

 thus far available favours the view that the water- 

 soluble, growth-promoting vitamin is probably among 

 the substances which may exert antineuritic action." 

 They display a similarly open mind as to the vexed 

 questions of the nature of vitamin B and its relation 

 to the growth of yeast, which are both being actively 

 investigated, with tantalisingly varied results, in manv 

 laboratories. The concluding chapter will probably 

 be found the most interesting by the non-specialised 

 reader, as in it the authors discuss the commonly 

 used foodstuffs from a general point of view, devoting 

 attention to their special merits or demerits, not only 

 as carriers of vitamins but as sources of " good " or 

 " bad " proteins and of energy. Their final conclusion 

 brings comfort to those who are anxious as to the 

 suitability of their everyday diet : "... we believe 

 it safe to say that with a dietary selected to make the 

 best use of our ordinary staple foods there will rarely 

 if ever be occasion to purchase vitamins in any other 

 form, or to give any greater anxiety to the vitamins 

 than to some other factors which enter into our present 

 conception of nutritive requirements and food values." 



Essai philosophique sur les probabiliies. Par Pierre- 

 Simon Laplace. (Les Maitres de la Pensee Scien- 

 tifique : Collection de memoires et ouvrages. Pub- 

 liee par les soins de Maurice Solovine.) I. Pp. xii-t- 

 103. II. Pp. iv+108. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et 

 Cie, 1921.) Each vol. 3 francs net. 

 Our students spend little or no time in the study of 

 the classical documents of scientific discovery. This 

 neglect is very much to be regretted, for there can be 



